Since its creation in 1995, the Public-Private Transportation Act has allowed VDOT and private industry to team up to build new roads and improvement projects. But lengthy processes and red tape stand in the way of this being a viable tool for use in the future.
No, Jerry Kilgore! It's bad management and lining the pockets of your big business friends that has, in the past, led to the dismal GOP record for on-time construction project completion and on-budget performance for construction projects. Giving VDOT jobs to the private sector allowed the George Allen and Jim Gilmore regimes to fleece Virginia taxpayers by funneling millions into private sector highway projects, while some projects never were finished at all. That is, until Mark Warner came along.
Under Gov. Mark Warner and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, on-time construction project completion has moved from 20% in FY 2001 to 74% through the third quarter of FY 2005, as posted on VDOT's Quarterly Report Card. On-budget performance for construction projects has moved from 51% in FY 2001 to 81%. For maintenance projects, the stats are even better, at 77% on time, and 83% on budget.
Private interests never do something for nothing. So, instead of allowing rich companies to get even richer from Virginia taxpayers, why not let the not-for-profit VDOT complete VDOT projects? Our roads are a precious resource that we find absolutely necessary to our livelihoods. Virginians deserve projects that are time and budget efficient, and that means good management, not private sector profit.
In my part of Virginia, people say, "if it ain't broke then don't fix it!" And, with my southwest Virginia accent, I say that as well. Don't let Jerry Kilgore lead us on a "road to nowhere."